under curfew, Kiev prepares for resistance; Moscow wants to “expand the offensive in all directions”

Romania repatriates its diplomatic staff from Kiev, and closes its airspace to Russia

Romania in turn closed its airspace to Russian airlines on Saturday and repatriated its diplomatic staff from Kiev, following Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. “Romanian airspace has been closed to all scheduled flights, with or without landing at national airports, for all operators registered in the Russian Federation”said the civil aeronautical authority, specifying that humanitarian and emergency flights were exempt.

This measure came into force at 3 p.m. local time (4 p.m. Paris time), according to the same source.

Several countries including Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Estonia have also closed their airspace to Russian operators. Russia responded on Saturday by banning planes linked to Warsaw, Prague and Sofia.

The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also announced that it has repatriated its diplomatic staff, made up of around fifteen members, and suspended the activity of the embassy in Kiev. “This decision follows the escalation of the security situation in Ukraine and in particular in Kiev”underlined Bucharest.

source site-29